Issue 9, 2020

Tetrahydrofuran-based two-step solvent liquefaction process for production of lignocellulosic sugars

Abstract

Large-scale production of biofuels and chemicals will require cost-effective, sustainable, and rapid deconstruction of woody biomass into its constituent sugars. Here, we introduce a novel two-step liquefaction process for producing fermentable sugars from red oak using a mixture of tetrahydrofuran (THF), water and dilute sulfuric acid. THF promotes acid-catalyzed solubilization of lignin and hemicellulose in biomass achieving 61% lignin extraction and 64% xylose recovery in a mild pretreatment step. The pretreatment opens the structure of biomass through delignification and produces a cellulose-rich biomass, which is readily solubilized at low temperature giving 65% total sugar yields in a subsequent liquefaction process employing the same solvent mixture. This process achieves competitive sugar yields at high volumetric productivity compared to conventional saccharification methods. THF, which can be derived from renewable resources, has several benefits as solvent including ease of recovery from the sugar solution and relatively low toxicity and cost.

Graphical abstract: Tetrahydrofuran-based two-step solvent liquefaction process for production of lignocellulosic sugars

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 May 2020
Accepted
22 Jul 2020
First published
22 Jul 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

React. Chem. Eng., 2020,5, 1694-1707

Tetrahydrofuran-based two-step solvent liquefaction process for production of lignocellulosic sugars

A. Ghosh, M. R. Haverly, J. K. Lindstrom, P. A. Johnston and R. C. Brown, React. Chem. Eng., 2020, 5, 1694 DOI: 10.1039/D0RE00192A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements